Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterA MAN was jailed this month for four days on a bench warrant for a traffic offence because the name on the ticket was similar to his.
Relatives of the jailed man are upset that Courtney Smith of Hayes in Clarendon had to spend time in jail when he did not commit the breach.
Smith went to the Hayes Police Station on February 4 to inform the police that he was not the person for whom a bench warrant was issued for driving without a driver's licence. He went to the station with the intention of clearing his name but instead he was taken to the Lionel Town Resident Magistrate's Court for the information to be checked.
REMANDED IN CUSTODY
The information referring to the charge could not be located and the clerk of the courts asked Resident Magistrate Stanley Clarke to have Smith remanded in custody until February 11 so that there could be sufficient time to find the information. The RM said the period was too long and instead remanded Smith in custody until February 8.
Smith's relatives who were upset that he was locked up, contacted attorney-at-law Barry Johnson who represented Smith when he appeared in the May Pen Resident Magistrate's Court on February 8.
The case went before Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown who requested that Smith produced his National Insurance Scheme certificate, Tax Registration Number or birth certificate. When the relevant documents were produced, it turned out that the date of birth for the person for whom the warrant was issued was different from that of the man before the court.
RM Brown ordered that Smith be released immediately.
